Handle With Care

I recently participated in an Exhibition called Multiplicity, curated by fellow MICA graduate student, Adam Void. Each participating artist made multiples of their work. Two were mounted on the wall or placed on a shelf, and the remaining 8 or so pieces were situated within plastic gumball machine bubbles, then placed inside a gumball machine for the audience to buy for $.50.

The opening was a great success and an hour in all of the plastic bubbles were sold out. Participants swapped, collected, and shared artwork. Overall, the exhibition seriously engaged the audience and artists alike in a way that I feel is unique to any show I have ever been a part of. There is nothing quite like the pubescent giddiness that comes from buying great art inside a plastic bubble. And for such a low price!

For my contribution, I worked on a series of Polaroid emulsion lifts inspired by tense, calming, or otherwise "delicate" situations. To reinforce the idea of a "delicate" situation, I chose to use razorblades as my printing surface. The result is a body of work, 9 in total, called "Handle With Care". I will add more as I document them, but here are some closeups of a few of the blades:

#2 from the series Handle With Care. 2011
polaroid emulsion lift on razor blade



#3 from the series Handle With Care. 2011

polaroid emulsion lift on razor blade

#4 from the series Handle With Care. 2011
polaroid emulsion lift on razor blade



One of the razor blades with the plastic bubble and warning insert from Multiplicity.

#5 from the series Handle With Care. 2011
polaroid emulsion lift on razor blade

#6

#7

On some of the blades I removed the excess emulsion, but I like how it looks when it's folded over, so I decided to leave it.

#8

#9